Genetic Evidence: I know some people are concerned about having a black man as president of the United States.   I was also very concerned about that until I read a report of the latest scientific evidence about racial differences.   The evidence  indicates that all races are over 99 % identical.   So then I started asking,  "What are the differences and what causes those differences?   

Environmental Conditioning:   As it turns out, the differences between the races are functions of:  education -- economic opportunity -- being or not being subjected to overt or subtle bias and bigotry -- the physical context of the person's childhood -- culture conditioning -- and several other environmental factors.   Other than some people's personal opinions, none of the bias against blacks has anything to do with skin color.   So when I look at Barack Obama from the perspective of who he is as a fellow human being and the background he comes from, I said WOW!   This man will make and excellent President.  

At that point, I had to seriously asked myself,  "Should I cast my vote for a President based on the candidate's physical appearance?"   Senator McCain is and looks older than most people's grandfathers.  His body language is about as dynamic as a revolving door.    And he shuffles around like he was on wheels.   If I'm going to vote based only on the traditional standards of physical beauty then I may as well stay home because there's nobody on either side to vote for.   

Then I heard that Senator McCain has produced an anti-Obama, political ad which included references to Paris Hilton.  Now there's a picture of physical beauty.   Perhaps I should cast a write-in vote for Paris Hilton.   If you haven't seen her reply to McCain's anti-Obama, ghost add you'll get a kick out of her response.

McCain's Ghost ad:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/30/mccain-ad-links-paris-hil_n_115841.html

Paris Hilton's Response:  

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/64ad536a6d  ²

So now when I look a Barack Obama, I look at what his values are and not what color his skin is.   Here's what I find:  I find a dedicated, intelligent, compassionate, dynamic leader whose skin happens to be a different color than mine.   I find a real leader for change - a leader who can bridge the cultural and racial divides.   I find the gift from God that has been sent to us to pull us out of the era of stagnation, destruction, war, poverty and Disneyland economics.   I found opportunity knocking at my door, and when I swung the door open, I saw love, and light and a gift from Creator standing on my doorstep.   

Voting by Ethnic Heritage: Recently I heard a Republican Spin Doctor ²  say that because Senator Obama is black, he might favor blacks over whites.    I was concerned at first and then I looked closely at Senator Obama and found an incredible open minded man with a big heart -- a man  who is a master at brining opposite sides together.   I remembered that when President John Kennedy broke the Catholic barrier, some Republicans peddled the fear story that he'd favor Catholics over non Catholics.   The bottom line here is that I found absolutely no evidence to support the spin doctors allegations that President Obama "might" vote on ethnicity and not on the merits of an issue.   His character, his background and his behavior all indicate that his decisions will be both fair and in the highest and best interest of all  Americans.  

Then I stumbled onto the real kicker:   Barack Obama's ethnic heritage is half white, half black.   That means:  He's not black!   He's not white.    He's mulatto.   So if I were going to vote on race, I'd have to give half of my vote to his white side and half of your vote to his black side.   Is he a man torn in half or is he a magic blend bringing to us the of the best of both worlds.   

Here's a man who spent his entire life in that middle ground between between the two conflicting races.   No wonder he's so good at brining opposing sides together.    I'm reminded of one of those short bits of wisdom the occasionally touch our lives:    "I destroyed an enemy today.  Usually one does not brag about such an event, but I made this enemy my friend."

What's In It for Me? I  thought about Obama's unique  racial blend for only a moment and decided that that was not only impossible to split my vote in half, it completely ignored the real issues.   It's far better for me to look at "Who is this man?  What does he stand for?"  And better yet, I'd be wise to answer the question "What's in it for me ² if I vote against him because he's a mulatto."   So I concluded that he's not a man torn in half, rather, he's more like espresso coffee.   He's a magic blend bringing to us the best of both worlds.